Right now, I'm attending the masquerade ball. I'm not wearing a wig, colored eye contacts, makeup, or even skin lightening cream. I look like my regular self. I'm just wearing a dark blue suit and a mask that is black on one side and a matching dark blue color as my suit on the other side. For a while, I just make my way through the party to fit in. I was told to do so as there will be a few TDO agents lurking around and watching. I managed to spot a few out. But I was told not to take too long going through the party as most likely, the agent Badboyhalo will be trying to take the item I'm meant to steal.

Due to that, I don't wait too long until I manage to slip out of the room where the party is being held. I make my way down hallways and flights of stairs, making sure to avert anyone's eyes. But as I get further away from the party, I quickly find that nobody is around, so I don't have to worry much about being caught by someone. Soon enough, I come across the door to the room that holds the item. On the doorknob, it shows that I need a numerical password. Through my earpiece, I say, "Sapnap, you got the password?"

A second later, Sapnap responds with, "Yes. It's 7-0-1-4-7. As soon as you open the door, all security measures, including cameras in the room, will be turned off."

"Thanks."

I input the password, and as soon as I put in the last number, I hear a click sound, telling me the door is unlocked now. I open the door and step into the room, shutting the door behind me. I take a look at my surroundings. On both opposite sides of the room is a counter that you would normally find in a laboratory. There are a few empty beakers on the two counters. I bet they do conduct some experiments here. I see in the corner of the room another door, which I believe should lead to various chemicals. I look up to see that the ceiling is quite high, and in the far end of the room, opposite from the entrance door is a window that is almost as high up as the ceiling. The window must at least be 15 feet high up from the ground.

In the middle of the room, though, is a type of compartment that is a cylinder shape and made of steel. It is about 6 feet tall and a bit over 1 and a half feet wide. There is a digital keypad put into it. Inside that cylinder compartment is the item I'm searching for. I walk up to it and insert the code I was given before the mission started. Once it's entered, above the keypad, a small door in the compartment starts sliding open by itself. Soon, the door isn't visible anymore as it is hidden, but inside the compartment is revealed a small steel ball about the size of my clenched fist.

Though it doesn't seem like much, the ball itself contains some toxic drugs that make you fall asleep, and in your sleep, you slowly start dying. A quite painless death. This type of drug is perfect for wanting to poison someone to get in their home to rob or something. If the body is found before the person is dead, then everyone will just think that they are passed out, and therefore, not get medical help, soon resulting in the person dying. I grab the steel ball and hold it in my hand for a moment.

This might have been a success after all. Before I put the ball in my pocket, I hear a voice say, "Great. Someone did my job for me."

I immediately turn around to look behind me to not see anybody, nor the door open. By instinct, I then look at the next possible entrance, the window, and there I see him. A man in a red suit with long brown hair in a man bun. He is wearing a black mask with red outlines. It then sets in the realization of who this is. It's Badboyhalo. I was told that there was a high chance that he would be here. But that was found out a bit last minute. I take a few steps back from the cylinder compartment to get a clearer view of the man sitting in the window. While I do that, I say in a low voice into my earpiece so that Badboyhalo doesn't hear me, "Badboyhalo is here."

Quickly, Sapnap tells me through the earpiece that reinforcements will soon be there. Badboyhalo has a smug grin on his face. He soon jumps down from the window, landing on his feet. It doesn't even seem like the fall hurt him at all. He then starts slowly walking to me as I take a few steps back. He says, "Thank you, but I think I'll take what you got in your hand there."

His voice somewhat feels familiar, but I can't tell as he is making his voice sound deeper than his regular voice. I can tell he's not speaking in his normal voice. Most agents do it in missions. This is so that they can be as unrecognizable as they can be to their true identity. I glance down at my hand, still holding the ball. I then look back at Badboyhalo, glaring quite coldly at him. I put the ball in my pocket and say confidently, "I don't think so."

I made sure to make my voice sound different as well. Badboyhalo lets out a sigh and says, "What a shame. That would've made this easier."

But soon, a grin spreads on his face again as he says, "But then again, I'm not exactly disappointed. It's quite an honor being face to face with the famous Skeppy and actually knowing that it's them."

He looks me up and down, looking at my appearance. Only now do I notice that he has green eyes, though it isn't very noticeable because of his mask. Even though I'm not dressed up like someone else, he doesn't know that. The only thing he could ever report to his agency is my height and how thin I am. Therefore, TDO wouldn't know what my full-on appearance is. Honestly, before this, I wouldn't have had an idea of what Badboyhalo looks like. Nobody really did, but not because he dresses up, but because nobody has ever lived to tell anyone about his appearance. Only 2 or 3 have survived him, but not without being greatly injured. They themselves didn't really know what Badboyhalo looked like, other than that he wore red. That's why when I saw the red suit, I knew it was him.

Out of nowhere, Badboyhalo takes out a gun and shoots in my direction. I quickly take action and dodge the bullet, making  some beakers break from it instead. Thanks to how thin I am, I'm actually quite fast and flexible, making me able to swiftly dodge. Badboyhalo let out a quiet hum that turned into a slight giggle in amusement. He then says, "You're quite quick on your feet, aren't you? Well, credit to you since not everyone gets to survive the first bullet."

To my surprise, he doesn't shoot again but instead throws the whole gun behind him. He then says, "I have a feeling that you don't have a weapon with you, and even though it would be easier to just shoot you and kill you, I like to have a proper fight."

He's right- I don't have a weapon with me. It was mostly expected to just quickly get the item and leave, but I guess I took too long. Either that, or he's too fast. It's not It's rare to find a TDA agent without a weapon in these kinds of heist or undercover missions as we normally don't even kill people. We mostly try to knock them out or maybe take them captive or something. But if we go against an agent who has a high kill count or is really dangerous and doesn't give up so easily, then we have to resort to kill them. Badboyhalo would fall under that category, but it would be too hard to knock him out or kill him. So what might be best in this case is to stall enough for reinforcements to come.

Suddenly, Badboyhalo starts charging for me. I quickly get ready for any possible impact. Soon, he starts fighting with me, throwing punches and a few kicks. I don't fight back much, I mostly just dodge or block his attacks. Why? Because he has a quite bigger build than me. If I tried to punch him back, even though I'm more agile, it would still be easier for him to block me with his long, bulky arms. So, I need to wait a bit for there to be moments where I can see an opening and aim to hit there, which is what I do. I managed to do an uppercut to his stomach, which made him stumble back a bit, but he quickly regained his posture.

In our quick fight, I was managed to be taken off guard, and he hit on the face, exactly on my cheek. That's gonna leave a mark. Because of the unexpected impact, I actually fall backward, landing on the floor. I actually feel quite dizzy. Damn- how strong is this guy!? He could've knocked me out from that simple punch! Even though I'm dizzy and on the floor, Badboyhalo doesn't do anything. He kind of just stares at me. He then grins and takes out a knife from inside his suit. He says, "Well, this was quite fun. But it's about time to end this. If I were someone else, you would probably be able to take them down easily, but unfortunately for you- I'm Badboyhalo."

He gets a good grip on his knife, ready to stab me. But adrenaline quickly rushes through my body as I suddenly don't feel dizzy anymore. Just as he lunges to stab me, I quickly roll away from his attack. I hear his knife clang on the floor, and I quickly stand back on my feet. Badboyhalo looks a bit surprised, but a grin soon plasters on his face as he slowly rises up again. He says, "Well, I never said I didn't like a good challenge after all."

He then charges at me again, but this time with his knife in hand. This time, though, I'm more prepared. I swiftly dodge his attacks, making sure not to get my guard down this time, especially with the swings of his blade. By some miracle, I am able to get an opportunity to knock his knife out of his hands. The knife lands near us. But we continue fighting. He soon swings his arm towards my head, making duck. But, I then get an idea.

So, while ducking down, I swing my foot under Badboyhalo, making him lose his footing. Catching him off guard, I then manage to push on the floor, flipping him midway falling so that I have him pinned down where I am grabbing his wrists together against his back. His stomach is facing the floor, and his face is awkwardly facing sideways. So, one of his cheeks is touching the cold floor. I put as much pressure on my hold to him so that he doesn't get loose and escape my grasp. He tries to squirm out of my grasp but fails.

As I start to calm down, it starts sinking in. I have- Badboyhalo pinned down? THE BADBOYHALO!? The guy who has managed to kill almost every person that gets in his way, making nobody find out his appearance!? That Badboyhalo!? I can't even believe it myself. I should make a decision quickly. I'm probably the first to have the privilege of having the opportunity to do whatever I want with Badboyhalo in this vulnerable state he's in. I have two options right now. Kill him, or wait for reinforcements to arrive  and possibly take him captive.

I then take notice of the mask he's wearing. Wait... we've had so many problems with identifying this guy because nobody knows his full appearance. I have the opportunity to really see his face. It would probably be best to do that before I decide on anything else. Either way, if I wait for reinforcements, his teammates could come to save him, while if I kill him now, I could possibly get scolded from my team as it could've been better to take him captive, or Badboyhalo's teammates come with a big reason to kill me too. But then again... why should someone who mercilessly kills people stay alive? ...

Maybe it's best to uncover his mask and then kill him. I look beside me to see that the knife that I knocked out of Badboyhalo's hand is just within reach. I move a hand up to grab his mask as I murmur, "I'll take a look at your face and then kill you..."

I feel him tense up at my words and movements. He tries to squirm his arms away from my grasp even more, but I keep my grip strong. I then manage to take hold of his mask and get it off his face, slightly throwing it to the side. I widen my eyes once I get to see the face before me. It's... Darryl!?! My breath slightly hitches, and my grip on him loosens, making him able to free himself completely from my grasp.

He then manages to flip our positions from my state of shock. My back is against the floor, so I'm looking right up at his face. He has a hand firmly gripping my throat. He's not exactly choking me to death, but it's enough to get me pinned on the floor, slightly struggling to breathe. He narrows his eyes at me, death glaring me. He then grabs the steel ball out of my pocket and puts it in front of his face. He then shows a sly grin, puts it in his pocket, looks at me, and says, "Well, props to you! You actually managed to see my face and almost got away with killing me...!"

I hear slight sarcasm in his voice. He's pissed. He then looks me straight in the eye, though I think he's looking at my mask... I then tense up as the thought goes through my mind. Bad- Darryl- grins at my reaction and says, "Let me return the favor by revealing your face and killing you. But unlike you, I'll get the job done."

He then takes my mask off but leaves it just on top of my forehead. As soon as he does that, he grabs the knife beside us and puts it above me, aiming to my heart. But as soon as he completely takes notice of my face, he halts. His eyes widen, and his grip on my throat loosens. He then completely gets off of me and stands up, taking a few steps back. As soon as he got his hand off my throat, I gasped for air that I didn't know I needed. I cough a bit before looking up at him.

We keep eye contact for what feels like forever, but it is actually a few seconds. We tense up once we hear the sound of stomping footsteps and voices getting close to the door. Darryl takes once last glance at me before acting quickly and shoving the knife in his suit. He then grabs his mask, puts it on, and hurries to grab his gun. I realize that I, too, must put on my mask, so I do so. Once he grabs his gun, he then takes out a grappling hook gun and aims it for the window. He then pulls himself out of the room through the window as I slowly get up.

As soon as he gets out of the room, the door barges open, making me snap my head towards it. A few agents, including Sapnap, hurry inside the room. Some are holding guns while looking around the area. Sapnap focuses his attention on me and goes up to me. He exclaims, "Skeppy! Are you okay!? Where is Badboyhalo!?"

My breath hitches for a moment at the name. It's still kind of sinking in that Badboyhalo is- Darryl. I say, "Um... he- left through the window the moment he heard you guys coming..."

There's visible shock in Sapnap's eyes. He looks at me up and down, looking for any visible injuries. But there aren't any life-threatening ones. I only have a few bruises, but not exactly noticeable, unlike the one on my cheek. I know what he's thinking. He's probably wondering how I managed to survive, especially with no major injuries. He then says, "Um- okay... well, do you have the item?"

I tense up at the question. Darryl left with it- I then say, "No- he managed to get it."

Sapnap lets out a small sigh but then gives me an encouraging smile and says, "At least you're alive."

I smile back at him and say, "I guess so..."